Test your knowledge about what news is and the places you can find it.

1.) Journalist's role

Which of these best describes the job of journalist?

Someone who finds and reports newsworthy stories.

Someone who watches the news.

Someone who promotes politicians and businesses.

2.) What is news?

Which of these headlines is NOT news?

US President to visit UK.

Pupil drops pen during lesson.

Usain Bolt breaks 100m record.

3.) Sources

Contacts are...

People journalists talk to when they are researching stories.

Notebooks which contain a journalist's research.

The big TV screens in the newsroom.

4.) Sources

What are "wires"?

A nickname for camera operators.

Another name for headlines.

Reports from journalists all over the world that news organisations pay to access.

5.) News values

The head teacher of a local primary school tells you that she's upset about a proposal to close her school. What headline would you choose for this story?

Head teacher announces school closure

Head teacher upset over school closure plan

Head teacher attacks council over school closure

6.) Types of news

Newsbeat is Radio 1's news programme. There are two bulletins every weekday, plus news summaries throughout the day. How long is each bulletin?

10 minutes

15 minutes

30 minutes

7.) Types of News

Which kind of news does World Have Your Say mainly report?

Local news

International news

National news

8.) Audience

Which of these audiences is Newsround aimed at?

18 to 25-year-olds

13 to 17-year-olds

6 to 12-year-olds

9.) News platforms

Which of these is NOT a news platform?

TV

Radio

A desk

Answers

A journalist is someone who finds newsworthy stories, creates reports and shares them with the public. Journalists do lots of different things to bring you the news, from taking pictures to doing interviews. But their core job is finding interesting, important and surprising stories that the public should hear about.

Pupil drops pen during lesson is unlikely to be a news story. Different news programmes will often cover different stories but giving your audience something they need or want to know is the starting point for choosing the right stories. Would people be interested in a pupil who dropped a pen in class?

Contacts are people journalists speak to when they are researching stories. Your family, friends, neighbours and teachers can all be great sources for stories.

Wires are reports from journalists all over the world that news organisations pay to access. Wire services operated by media organisations such as Associated Press and the Press Association can be a really useful source for reporters. Journalists try to find two sources when reporting a story, to increase their chances of getting the most accurate information.

Head teacher upset over school closure plan is the best choice. When she spoke to you, the head teacher didn't say the school was definitely closing and she didn't attack the council. Journalists must always tell the truth and report what people say accurately.

Newsbeat has two 15 minute bulletins every weekday. But you'll also hear news summaries throughout the day and the Newsbeat website is regularly updated with the latest stories.

World Have Your Say mainly reports international news, that's stories of interest to a global audience. News about something that's happening in one country can be really interesting to people from all over the world.

Newsround is aimed at 6 to 12-year-olds. The people who make the programme choose stories they think might interest children of this age and try to cover it in a way they will find interesting.

A desk is not a news platform. There are lots of places you can access the news but a desk doesn't really count! The BBC uses lots of different platforms to get news to the public, including TV, radio, websites, mobile phone apps, iPlayer, the Red Button service and social media sites.

Your Score

0 - 3 : Keep working at it

4 - 7 : Good but could be better

8 - 9 : Well done!

As part of our updated teacher resources, we have produced a series of quizzes designed to test pupils' knowledge and raise interesting discussion points about different aspects of news and journalism.

This quiz is about what news is and where you can find it.

The quizzes are also available inside the
'pick and mix' resources
section and the
lesson plans,
but we have reproduced them on individual pages as a way of making it more convenient for distribution in the classroom.

NOTE FOR TEACHERS

The online quiz gives you the answers at the end of each question. If you are using the quiz worksheet, the answers can be found here:

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